Nicolette Boele
Bradfield · Independent · Australia
“For the last 25 years, even though we've had national laws to protect the places we love, our environment has continued to deteriorate. Experts say that's because our key environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, is all about following processes and not about achieving outcomes.”
“They're full of vague, non-binding language and they're all about process. To be clear, there are some good things in the draft standards, such as requirements to have community engagement plans and strengthened water protections.”
“Thorough consultation can help mitigate problems such as these so they do not arise, and the changes proposed by my amendment would ensure that reforms are considered systematically and holistically and that they are informed by lived experience.”
“The Ku-ring-gai arts community has received some devastating news in the last few weeks. First, we learnt that the Marian Street Theatre redevelopment in Killara had been terminated by council. After nearly 100 years, it was shut down in 2013 due to age and safety issues.”
“Shortly thereafter we heard the equally devastating news that the property holding the much beloved independent Roseville Cinema, a community icon since the 1930s, is going to be sold. A judge has ordered that the building be sold to pay off the debts incurred by the owners.”
“As responsibilities across the disability ecosystem shift across jurisdictions, it is more important than ever that thorough, meaningful consultation is undertaken to understand and to avoid unintended consequences.”
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“Over the coming months or so, the beautiful trees of our nation's bush capital will turn from yellow to orange to red, and we all know what that means. The budget is in the air. This will be my first budget as a member in this place, so my focus has been, and will be, on the things that matter most to my community in Bradfield. My prebudget submission to the Treasurer asked for many things. The process of laying out in black and white the funding that so many organisations and community groups in Bradfield need made me realise—with pride and no small amount of humility—just how many good people we have doing such important work for others. Here's who they are, what they do and what they need. Let's start with mental health—an area of so much need, with so many grassroots organisations stepping up to help with the crisis.”
“My question is for the Prime Minister. Australia led the world with cigarette plain packaging laws. We also led the world with the social media ban. But Australia is also the world leader in gambling harm, with the highest per capita gambling losses in the world. Plain packaging, the social media ban—Labor governments have shown us that they can get these hard but important things done. Prime Minister, gambling harm is killing people. When will you finally take real action and keep Australians safe?”
“I'm heartened by all of this—by the number and the nature of responses to my survey, by the support being shown for sensible proposals for reform that aim to make secure housing more available and affordable for the next generation, and by the fact that people are open to change that might be contrary to their own interests. I take it all to mean that there is significant support in my electorate of Bradfield for big, bold ideas that might make our tax system better and fairer. Let's keep that conversation alive.”
“This is relevant because that group—investment property owners—is the group least likely to benefit by a reduction in the CGT discount. The results may surprise you. Two-thirds of survey respondents were comfortable with the proposal that the CGT discount be reduced from 50 to 33 per cent. A further 11 per cent were open to considering it. Of those who owned investment properties, half were comfortable with that change and a further 15 per cent were open to considering it. In deciding whether to support CGT reform, the factor which most influenced respondents was whether the change would be one part of a broader effort to modernise our tax system; 56 per cent of people responded that way.”
“I launched a survey to gauge people's thoughts on the capital gains tax discount— the rule that gives people who generate income from assets like investment properties a 50 per cent deduction on the tax payable on that income. To be clear, this was an online survey. It wasn't a poll. It had a large number of respondents—1,237—but it's not statistically significant. Its purpose was to obtain a preliminary sense of the community sentiment on what is basically a major policy area in need of reform. Interestingly, 86 per cent of survey respondents were over the age of 45 years and 60 per cent were over the age of 60 years. A majority of those owned their own homes. More importantly, nearly 30 per cent of respondents owned at least one investment property.”
“It's definitely true to say that tax reform has recently become a topic around many water coolers, and that's because it's at that converging point of a number of national crises, including the housing crisis, one cause of which is the tax system preferences property investors over first home buyers and growing intergenerational inequality, a big contributor to which is the fact that we disproportionately tax earnings from income, not wealth; and the energy supply crisis, which could be alleviated by an orderly phase-out of subsidies which prolong our addiction to expensive, unreliable and dirty liquid fossil fuels. For these reasons and more, tax reform is a debate that this country has to have. It's also why I went to the community to hear their thoughts.”
“Secondly, end the silence. Pressure the regime to immediately restore full internet access. The current digital darkness is a deliberate tactic to stop the world from hearing the people's cries for help and to hide mass executions. And, thirdly, support a democratic transition. Recognise the need for a stable transition to a secular democracy. I stand with my Iranian Australian constituents at this time of immense upheaval and stress.”
“Like in so many places all around the world, Iranian Australians wake up every morning desperately checking to see what's happened overnight in the war in Iran, desperately hoping for confirmation that their loved ones are safe. My team has been meeting with impacted Bradfield constituents to understand what, if anything, we can do to help them. One young woman had a clear message for our government which I promised to pass on. She urges the government, the Australian government, to take a clear, principled stand with the people of Iran. As the regime continues to lose legitimacy, she says that it's vital that Australia does not offer even symbolic support. She has three clear asks. Firstly, reject the regime. Ensure Australia does not participate in any mourning of the late supreme leader or allow any platform for his praise.”
“This subsidy is a massive disincentive for miners to make a switch to electricity, a switch which would save the money, be better for the planet and, critically, at this moment in time, guarantee their fuel security and their business continuity. While we continue to have this ridiculously expensive, inefficient and ineffective headwind in the form of a petrol and diesel subsidy, we are not helping to wean our farmers and miners off their addiction to dirty, expensive and unreliable liquid fuels. We are not protecting our economy from price volatility and fuel supply risks, and we're not protecting them. The fuel tax credit scheme must be reformed and it must be reformed now.”
“With all the great challenges come great opportunities. To put another way, in politics we should never let a good crisis go to waste. We are in the middle of a global energy crisis, and it's not the only one we've seen in recent times. From Russia's invasion of Ukraine to yet another war in the Middle East, rolling geopolitical crises continuously threaten global fuel supplies. At the same time, while the government is making progress on shifting our balance of energy use from fossil fuels to renewables, it's doing so with one hand tied behind its back, and this is because of the fuel tax credit scheme. It's an $11 billion annual Commonwealth subsidy that's paid for by the Australian taxpayer to make petrol and diesel cheaper for heavy on-road users and for users offroad on farms and mine sites.”
“There is a geopolitical and humanitarian crisis facing the world, and Australia must respond commensurate with the challenge that that is. I know many in my electorate of Bradfield would feel pride in our nation for standing unwaveringly alongside the people of Iran, who are vulnerable to an oppressive regime. Australia needs to play its fair share in this.”
“The changes that the government is making today are allegedly intended not to manage national security but to safeguard the humanitarian program. But there's another way of sorting that out, and it doesn't have to be a demand response; it can be a supply one. Make no change to those who currently have temporary visas to enter Australian territories, and then, still within the law, allow these people to apply for protections as they would if they found themselves unable to return to their place of origin. In this time, more than likely, that will be Iran or other targeted places. If we are going to stop people already approved to come to Australia from making that trip, we should make a corresponding increase to the number of humanitarian visas we offer and approve.”
“If you think hard enough about it, it's probably true to say that almost every Australian would know, has gone to school with, has worked with or is neighbours with a refugee. We know from experience that they are hardworking, kind, loyal, decent, wonderful contributors to this country. We are all better for knowing them, and Australia is a better place for having welcomed them. But this government this week—the same week that it has announced that Australia will join the war by sending an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, medium-range air-to-air missiles and 85 precious souls to the UAE—has introduced to this place not legislation to help people impacted by the illegal war in the Middle East but legislation to block people coming here who have already been granted a temporary visa to this country.”
“In the two decades following the Vietnam War, Australia resettled more than 100,000 Vietnamese refugees from various Asian countries—for the Hansard , I'm giving a nod right now to the member for Fowler in recognition of that. Following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, Prime Minister Bob Hawke effectively gave 25,000 people—students who were already here, along with their spouses and dependents—permanent residency in Australia. That was on top of any humanitarian intake. But these are just numbers. There is absolutely no doubt that the one million refugees that we have welcomed to this country since the end of World War II have made an enormous positive contribution.”
“For this purpose, in my amendment, 'humanitarian visa' means a global special humanitarian visa, subclass 202, or a refugee visa, subclass 200, 201, 203 or 204. Since 1947, in the aftermath of World War II, Australia has a mostly proud history of accepting refugees in times of crisis. It would behove this government to reflect on the achievement of the Chifley Labor government after World War I when, over two years, we welcomed 82,532 refugees—and that at a time when our population was a mere 7.5 million people. Compare that to the average intake in the decade prior to 2022 of 18,000 a year. Numbers of humanitarian arrivals also increased substantially after the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and the Warsaw Pact countries' invasion of then-Czechoslovakia in 1968.”
“It's true that sometimes there are circumstances which require urgent action. This is not one of them. Passing legislation in haste with no consultation, a curtailment of debate and a complete lack of committee scrutiny makes a mockery of our parliamentary, and therefore our democratic, processes. My amendment to this bill does something very simple. It responds to the basic intent of the bill, which is to suspend temporary visas already issued to people from certain identified inconvenient locations. My amendment requires that, once the immigration minister takes that step, the same number of additional humanitarian visas be issued the following year as the number cancelled the previous year—that is, humanitarian visas additional to the usual number issued annually in a number corresponding to the number suspended under this bill.”
“I move the amendment as circulated in my name: (1) Schedule 1, item 6, page 9 (after line 35), after section 84E, insert: 84EA Issue of additional humanitarian visas (1) Each year, the Minister must issue an additional number of humanitarian visas that is equal to the number of visas affected by an arrival control determination in the previous year. (2) In this section, humanitarian visa means: (a) a global special humanitarian visa (subclass 202); or (b) a refugee visa (subclass 200, 201, 203 or 204). Here we are again, debating an urgent bill that this government wants to introduce and pass through this place the day after introducing it. This government's track record on ramming migration amendments through parliament with no proper debate and no parliamentary scrutiny is very disappointing.”
“My question is to the very busy and important Minister for Climate Change and Energy. From COVID to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and yet another war in the Middle East, rolling geopolitical crises continuously threaten global fuel supplies. Here at home, the fuel tax credit scheme, our $11 billion per annum federal subsidy of diesel fuels our addiction to dirty, expensive and unreliable liquid fuels. Why does the government insist on jeopardising our national energy security by keeping miners, farmers and motorists hooked on taxpayer funded, artificially cheap and unreliable diesel?”
“I also want to urge the government to continue to work to ensure that funding for mental health services like these ones continues to be successful and thrive in my electorate of Bradfield and in other communities because we do not want Australia's mental health services to be a postcode lottery.”
“KYDS Youth Counselling offers free, confidential counselling for children aged 10 to 18 without the need for a Medicare card, GP referral or a mental health plan. If you're a young person at risk, KYDS makes the barrier to accessing these services very low. That's ever so critical for people who are very often too shy to ask for help. Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury has also provided vital services to my community for over 56 years. EPIC, Empowering Parents in Crisis, collaborates with schools, police, hospitals, family support organisations and the community to demystify pathways to support and create awareness regarding youth mental health. I want to thank these wonderful organisations for their high quality and sustained service to our community.”
“Pleasingly, the government is acting to address inequities in health outcomes, and I do commend the minister for his work in this regard. The Reducing Health Inequities Mission is investing $150 million over 10 years from 2027-28 to research and address inequities in health outcomes. This funding aims to improve access to quality health services by priority populations. But is it enough, and is work going to be done quickly enough? As is the case in all complex public policy areas, there is much, much more work to be done. Similarly, we could not lay claim to having a world class without already exceptional services being operated by incredible healthcare professionals, and that's certainly true in the mental health services space in my electorate of Bradfield.”
“As we've been discussing already today, national reporting also consistently shows that communities in regional and remote areas have fewer mental health professionals per capita and that emergency departments in regional areas, like the member of Calare's, bear a disproportionate load, as community services are thinner. This leads to longer wait times for services, greater reliance on emergency departments and limited continuity of care after discharge. In short, the delivery of services in Australia's mental health system is not uniform. There are clear measurable differences in service availability, funding, waiting times, outcomes and access to community versus hospital based care. These disparities exist between states, between urban and regional and remote areas and between individual primary health networks.”
“The 2025 Report on g overnment s ervices identifies major differences in per capita spending on mental health, access to state and territory specialised mental health services, and rates of delayed or avoided care due to cost. For example, my home state of New South Wales recorded the lowest per capita expenditure on specialised mental health services among the states, and, despite the vast public spend on mental health services, 22.4 per cent of people across Australia delayed or avoided obtaining care due to cost, with cost pressures differing between jurisdictions. These variations affect service quality, wait times and the ability of people to receive appropriate care at all.”
“In addressing that issue today, I want to focus on one particular part of the healthcare system, and that is mental health and the inequity of service delivery around the country. According to government data, we spent almost $14.5 billion on mental health services in the year 2023-24. That's around seven per cent of total government expenditure. That's an extraordinary amount of money, so it very much matters where and how it is allocated. We also know that five million people, or 18 per cent of the population, were dispensed a mental health related prescription in the same period. So mental ill health is incredibly prevalent and widespread, but the delivery and accessibility of mental health services is inconsistent. Let's first have a look at the variations between states and territories.”
“I thank the member for Fowler for raising what is clearly a matter of public importance—that healthcare in this country should not be a postcode lottery. It is a proposition with which it is impossible to disagree. In Australia we quite rightly pride ourselves on our world-class healthcare system. We rank first among the OECD countries for equity and healthcare outcomes and third for overall healthcare performance, behind only Norway and the Netherlands. But, like all systems, ensuring its ongoing success requires maintenance and vigilance, and healthcare equity—in other words, ensuring that we do not succumb to a postcode lottery—requires not just funding but funding where and when it is needed.”
“One resident described gambling as 'secretly destructive', saying that it ruins individuals, tears apart families and eventually communities, because strong communities are made up of healthy, grounded individuals and families. Their words reflect the quiet but profound harm that gambling can cause when it's woven into everyday environment. I rise today to speak volumes to the concerns expressed by an increasing number of people in the St Ives area and surrounds. A redevelopment of this scale should be an opportunity to build a healthier, more resilient and connected community, not to introduce risk known to undermine those very goals.”
“Nationally, Australians lose $13 billion every year on poker machines alone, according to analysis by the Australia Institute, and these losses are not evenly spread. They come disproportionately from people experiencing stress, loneliness, housing insecurity and other vulnerabilities. Importantly, local residents have made it clear that they support redevelopment, but they support redevelopment with purpose. What they want are facilities that strengthen the social fabric—a local flexible arts and performance space, community health services, and other infrastructure that supports families rather than exposing them to preventable harms. Some community members have shared personal stories, including experiences of growing up in households affected by poker-machine addiction.”
“The theme of the correspondence is that the proximity of the poker machines to a family friendly shopping precinct, which has an existing playground, a skate park and cinemas proposed, is socially irresponsible and would dramatically change the character of the village. We already have 737 electronic gaming machines in Bradfield, and constituents are telling me we don't need more. Residents have also raised concerns about the broader social impacts associated with poker-machine gambling related stress. These are not hypothetical issues. They reflect a deeply personal experience for some families—increased financial hardship, mental strain and family breakdown, including the heightened risk of domestic violence and research that has repeatedly linked these to gambling related stresses.”
“When communities consider major redevelopment proposals, the question before us is never merely one of land use or architectural form. It's a question of values. What kind of neighbourhoods do we want for our families, for our young people and for the future? In my electorate of Bradfield, there's a proposal to redevelop the St Ives Shopping Village. The proposal includes an enhanced retail space, new restaurants, cafes, outdoor dining and an entertainment precinct anchored by a seven-screen cinema. The developer also wants to repurpose buildings to make way for a tavern, The ground floor of which would house a 200 square metre gaming room. I've had nearly 60 constituents contact me about this.”
“My question is for the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Water. Minister, late last year this parliament passed important reforms to our nature laws, the EPBC Act. The changes allow states to be delegated approval powers that are traditionally federal ones. Your government sold this to us on the promise that strong, outcomes focused national environmental standards would be in place before the states acquired those powers. Will the government once more assure the Australian people that the states will not be given increased powers until all of these critical standards are finalised?”
“According to Carers for Kids NSW, in New South Wales alone there are around 14,720 children and young people living in foster care or kinship care, of whom 45 per cent are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. In November last year the New South Wales government launched a statewide campaign urging people across New South Wales to change a child's life by becoming a foster carer. If there's anyone out there who has ever had an inkling that they might like to become carers of kids in need, I offer the incredible example of Carolyn and Dave Stedman as inspiration.”
“I take this opportunity to congratulate two very special constituents in my electorate of Bradfield—Turramurra residents Carolyn and David Stedman—on an extraordinary milestone. Carolyn and Dave are foster parents, and 2026 marks 50 years since they first welcomed a child into their home—and, now, they are fostering their 75th child. They have dedicated their lives to helping children of all ages by offering them a safe and loving place to call home. The couple currently fosters children through Wesley Mission's foster care program. Jim O'Rourke, who reported on the milestone in the Manly Daily , quoted Mr Stedman as saying: We are both Christian people … who have a good home, good health and a good family and we're just giving back to these people who have nothing.”
“My question is for the Leader of the House. Two weeks ago this parliament passed legislation to respond to the Bondi terror attack. The crossbench was required to vote on legislation mere hours after receiving it. That process disrespected the one in three Australians who voted for a strong crossbench and it degrades the democracy that we fought so hard to nurture. What steps will the government take to ensure that law-making processes following future crises will not degrade democracy in this way?”
“Today is 4 February, Extreme Heat Awareness Day. It's critical that we properly plan for what's ahead, but it's also critical that we properly tackle the causes of the problem. We can't protect communities from extreme heat and catastrophic bushfires while we literally pour fuel on the fire. Making climate change worse by approving new fossil fuel projects is not part of our plan. I offer my sincere thanks to our Ku-ring-gai volunteer firefighters for their service, and I call on this place to do everything it can to protect those who answer the call by mitigating the risks, helping to build more resilient communities and ending the approval of new fossil fuel projects.”
“In scenes all too familiar to Australians, my community watched with dismay at the devasting bushfires in Victoria this summer. As blazes tore through the state, I was incredibly proud to learn that our very own North Shore volunteer brigades answered the call for help. Congratulations to Huw Bradshaw from the North Shore Lorikeet for reporting on their journey. As Huw reported, several Ku-ring-gai volunteers travelled to places including Yarck in the Goulburn Valley to protect vulnerable communities and their properties. In the great tradition of Australian firefighting and community service, they put their own lives at risk to help fellow Australians. It's what we do, and it's what we need to keep doing as the devastating impacts of climate change usher in weather events that are more severe and more frequent than ever before.”
“He goes on to say: It's about a fair go. The Independent Brewers Association, whose members are overwhelmingly small to medium-sized business in big cities and small communities throughout Australia, agree with Ben from Buckle. The IBA points out that independent brewers employ locals, give back to their communities, strengthen Australia's manufacturing capability, provide tourism destinations and work directly with the agricultural sector. Critically, their profits stay in Australia. So I repeat: if the government is going to be spending taxpayer money pausing an excise on beer, surely independent Australian businesses should be the priority. Spending that taxpayer money for the benefit of multinational companies just doesn't pass the pub test. Let's see if the government is listening. I commend the amendment to the House.”
“If government revenue—taxpayers' dollars—is going to be spent to alleviate the cost of doing business, I want to make sure that it's helping local businesses. Take Buckle Cafe and Distillery in Artarmon in my electorate of Bradfield as an example. After this legislation was introduced, I got in touch with Ben, the owner, to see whether he thought extending the excise pause would help the distillery and other similar local craft breweries. Ben said: It's getting harder and harder. I've been in the industry 15 years now and the day to day has certainly not gotten easier. The freeze on draught beer excise was a great vote winner from Labor. Unfortunately, it sounds great; But it actually disproportionately favours the big multinational brewers because they dominate and control a lot of the taps in the market.”
“The idea, of course, is to ensure that the price of a cold one down at the pub stays the same for a little while longer. The legislation, the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, implements that promise. The Labor Party has a clear mandate for it, so I will be supporting the legislation. However, in my view, the underlying election promise was flawed. By pausing the excise on draught beer only, the policy mostly benefits large, multinational companies and does nothing to assist the small independent craft brewers that Australians have come to love so much. Excise on those craft beers will not be paused under the legislation, which means the price of them will keep rising, even as the excise for draught beer stays the same. My amendment addresses that by extending the two-year excise pause to independent craft beer.”
“(2) In this section: CPI indexed non-draught beer rate means a rate of duty set out in subitem 1.1, 1.5 or 1.10 of the Schedule. craft beer means beer brewed by a member of the Independent Brewers Association or a similar not-for-profit organisation representing independent, local brewers with appropriate governance of member eligibility and conduct. indexation day has the same meaning as in section 6A. Everyone knows that households and small businesses around the country have been doing it tough. The cost of living has been hurting Australians for some time now. To address that, one of the Labor Party's election promises was to pause indexation on draught beer excise and excise-equivalent customs duty rates for two years from August 2025.”
“I move the amendment as circulated in my name: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (after line 23), after section 6L, insert: 6M Temporary freeze in indexation for craft beer (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 6A(1) applies, in relation to craft beer and each CPI indexed non-draught beer rate, as if the indexation factor were 1 for each of the following indexation days: (a) 1 August 2025; (b) 1 February 2026; (c) 1 August 2026; (d) 1 February 2027. Note 1: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2025 will be unchanged for the next 2 years. Note 2: When indexation resumes in August 2027, the indexation factor for 1 August 2027 will be applied against these unchanged rates (see subsection 6A(1)).”
“Last year, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, in its State of the Housing System report, recommended boosting social housing to six per cent, with a long-term target of all homes to be 10 per cent.”
“If we want people to have the opportunity to lead fruitful, productive lives, and if we want to genuinely help people to lift themselves out of difficult circumstances and contribute to a harmonious society and a productive economy, we must address housing insecurity. This government would say that it has done more than any other government before to address the housing crisis. It would reel off a list, including the social housing accelerator program, the Housing Australia Future Fund, the increase to Commonwealth rent assistance, the build to rent scheme and the first home supply program, but the fact remains: it is not increasing the supply of social housing fast enough.”
“Last week the Productivity Commission released its report on government services which showed that social housing makes up only 3.6 per cent of all dwellings, down from 5.7 per cent in the 1980s; 41 per cent of public housing waitlists is made up of households that are homeless or at risk of homelessness, up from 26 per cent in 2015; and 18.3 per cent of Commonwealth rent assistance households are in severe rental stress—that means they're paying more than 50 per cent of their income on rent—and that's up from 8.1 per cent in 2004. Housing insecurity brings with it a raft of other social and economic problems, including a higher risk of mental illness, chronic ill health and difficulty finding and holding down a job.”
“The Australian Council of Social Service, or ACOSS, laid bare a remarkable statistic: the federal government is spending more on tax breaks for property investors than on social housing, homelessness services and rental assistance combined. As everyone knows, one of the biggest crises facing this country, and one of the most significant causes of growing intergenerational inequity, is the unaffordability of housing. In my own electorate of Bradfield, a mere 0.9 per cent of a total 67,000 private homes are social housing, either state housing authority or community housing provider homes. This is compared to a national average of 3.8 per cent during that same period. Over a third of renters are in housing stress—in other words, they're paying more than 30 per cent of their household income on rent. Nationwide, that position is also dire.”
“I know we have a housing affordability crisis, and I know this as acutely as anyone. Despite our relatively strong position on socioeconomic scales, my electorate is one of Australia's most unaffordable. Out doorknocking, at pop-up offices or attending local events, I hear how hard it is for people to live close by where they work, in residential aged care, in our hospitals and our schools, and how hard it is for small businesses to find people to work in the cafes, on worksites or in GP practices. So my team and I have, in earnest, been researching the availability of affordable housing options. Surely there must be some in our area of Sydney—but apparently not. Then this happened last week.”
“No matter what the colour of your skin, the God you worship or who you love, we are all entitled to the freedoms and securities of the person who lives next door to us, across the road or across the country. When we pass laws that lead to the clean-up of institutional behaviours that harm rather than nurture those who need us to have their backs, we start to replace the hate with care. We replace blame with responsibility. We replace 'them' with 'us'—'all of us'. I strongly urge the government to adequately resource its own anti-racism framework that it commissioned in 2024. It's good. It may help. I'm really sorry that this has happened in our community across the country. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about something that is so important. We can do better, we must do better and we get this done by working together.”
“When we don't speak up for our children, for all of our brothers and sisters, we're letting down the entire family, our Australian family. With every thought, word and action—or lack of action—we are creating a permissive environment where this hate can continue and even thrive. And hate can't be solved with more hate. We need to grow understanding and courage and we need to make tangible progress. That starts with calling out hate every time wherever it occurs. It means applying the levers at our disposal—all of them—to match the wrongdoing. It means making sure that our lawmakers and enforcers, our commentators and our leaders, start to see that hate actually harms people.”
“This is a hate crime on the basis of race, of othering. Sadly, it felt to me that the hate shown against First Peoples on this day wasn't as seriously considered as the hate shown to others, and, therefore, that a strong response by our institutions wasn't as swift and wasn't as warranted. Let's be clear: hate on anyone in this country is hate on all of us. My message is: how our institutions, the media, the intelligence agencies and people in this place respond matters. Responding appropriately when this hate crime happened in Perth was not about protecting the weak and vulnerable. This is about acknowledging that everyone is equal before the law and within our communities, and it's all of our responsibility to ensure that this is so.”
“We continue to stand by whilst the states and territories pass laws to allegedly address crime but which have the practical effect of discriminating, targeting young First Peoples offenders and institutionalising them in harsh, cruel cells and detention centres with little regard for their cultural, social and economic needs. We essentially add to their harm rather than help remove it. Last week, we watched as people with hate in their hearts and harm in their hands hurled a bomb into a crowd of people peacefully demonstrating—as they have for years on 26 January, as is their right, as is everyone's right in this precious but increasingly precarious democracy. Let me be clear: just as in Bondi, Sydney, where the target was Jewish people, in Forrest Place, Perth, the target was our First Peoples.”
“I rise to speak in support of the member for Curtin's motion, and I rise also to ask: what does it say about our democracy when we seem to have two sets of standards for protecting citizens from hate? We had a violent start to the modern Australian nation, and we have made some but very little progress on making good on that—little progress politically, institutionally, economically and culturally. Let's not forget report after report showing that we're not adequately closing the gap. We don't have an ATSIC, and we don't have a voice to parliament or a permanent way to have solid representation in this parliament of the hundreds of First Nations that make up Australia.”